Results 1 - 4 of 4
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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | animals and the flood | Gen 6:9 | Ocelot | 170558 | ||
Not that I disagree with your ultimate statement Hank (because I don’t), but regarding thinning patience and foolish questions, I think it would be fair to take a look at the culture that many Christians are bombarded with every day. Our place in history is unique in that the “leading thinkers” of our day declare that there is no God. That man is a mere accident. And our entertainment industry and our culture are constantly telling us that our religion is a crutch. I completely agree that God receives a pathetic amount of reverence from His creation. But I also think that He understands that we ‘dwell, where Satan's throne is’. I believe that, more than any other time in history, faith is under attack. I think we need to be sensitive to those who may be tempted to doubt. Just my “two-cense”. Ocelot |
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2 | animals and the flood | Gen 6:9 | Hank | 170562 | ||
Ocelot: But so frequently "sensitivity" is a bed-fellow of compromise, and "tolerance" of duplicity. ..... How much of this do you see going on in the typical modern church?: "Preach the word; be instant in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine" (2 Timothy 4:2). ..... And how much of THIS is going on?: "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables" (2 Timothy 4:3,4). ...... We don't need to be particularly sensitive or tolerant, in the modern wilted-down senses of these words: that is not what Christians are commanded to do. "Preach the word" is what we are to do, and in large measure it is not what is being done. Churches have tried every appeal under the sun to draw people -- every appeal, that is, except the one that will draw people: the preaching of Jesus Christ and Him crucified. (see 1 Corinthians 1:23-25). How many times have modern church leaders promulgated the idea that the gospel of Christ must be specially packaged for our modern times? The theological word for that idea, when translated from the Greek, is "baloney." ...... Just this week I read a newspaper article about the steady decline in membership of what were once known as the main-line churches in America -- a decline that has been going on steadily and continuously for over a quarter century. Is it mere coincidence that the decline in membership matches up chronologically with the decline of gospel preaching from the pulpits of these churches? And add to that, for it is an inevitable corollary, their abject failure to reject the infiltration of false doctrines while at the same time failing to stand firm for Christian morals -- God's immutable moral laws against, for example, murder and sexual immorality. And in this newsapaper article, a certain preacher in one of these liberal main-line churches whined, "I don't understand why we are losing members. We're doing all we know how to attract and keep them." Perhaps so. Perhaps they've indeed forgotten how to preach the gospel of Christ. How sad. How sad when about all that's left of many erstwhile churches to distinguish them from the world is the spire atop the church building. --Hank | ||||||
3 | animals and the flood | Gen 6:9 | Ocelot | 170565 | ||
Dear Hank, I agree with what you said 100 percent. What you’re describing sounds like what I call “Church Marketing”. Where services are designed to entertain. Where the goal is to get numbers in the pews. And where true Godliness is left at the door. However… The “sensitivity” that I was talking about is not the “sensitivity” that you are talking about. I don’t think that sensitivity means that truth ceases to be truth or that sin ceases to be sin. I’m talking about the sensitivity that does not break “a bruised reed” or extinguish “a dimly burning wick…” The fact that these people are on this forum shows that they seek the truth. They have not swallowed what they’ve been fed. At least not yet. As for patience… we are given an Eleventh Commandment. “Love one another.” According to 1 Corinthians 13:4 “Love is patient…” I hope that you don’t think that I am trying to be arrogant or condescending. I respect you. You are much older and wiser than I. I’m just saying that I know what it’s like to have doubts. Ocelot |
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4 | animals and the flood | Gen 6:9 | Hank | 170570 | ||
Ocelot, well said, and not only do I respect your right to say it but by and large agree with it. Why don't we try substituting the word "compassion" for "sensitivity" and see how it plays? And I do pray that this Forum and its participants will be able to convey a genuine sense of empathy and welcome to sincere inquirers who come to it for counsel and spiritual enlightenment from God's word. A few days ago I marked the passing of another milestone in my affiliation with this Study Bible Forum -- the fifth year of active participation -- and in those years I've experienced quite a bit, both inwardly and outwardly. Inwardly I've grown spiritually as the result of having been exposed to many dear saints on the Forum whose spiritual insights were far deeper than my own and whose knowledge of Scripture more profound than mine. Outwardly I've had occasion to come into contact with any number of people who espouse a faith differing from my own, sometimes considerably and sometimes only minimally. I've witnessed various cults being promulgated and suffered though and survived the brief moments that radical proponents of cults and other heresies were allowed their place in the sun, as it were, and then they moved on -- some of their own volition and some by being relieved by the site owner of their privilege to post. ...... That said, I do pray, however, that no honest and sincere inquirer after the truth of God's word will ever be turned away, or snubbed, or mocked, or ridiculed, or reprimanded, strictly by virtue of his quest. It is my considered conviction that this Forum should ever keep its arms open, its heart attuned, and its focus fixed on those from every clime who are exemplified by these words from a dear old hymn, "More about Jesus would I know, more of His grace to others show." May we all of us, student or teacher, baby Christian or seasoned saint, be filled with God's love and grace, and thus empowered, bring honor and glory to Christ through these pages. No one knows save God alone what impact our words on this Forum, for good or bad, may have for all eternity. --Hank | ||||||